Latchmere House

Latchmere House is a building and grounds south-east of Ham Common in Ham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in south west London, England. Its south is in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames.

Latchmere House
The house, with some of the new homes, forming Barrons Chase, alongside
General information
Status(Conversion) apartments; and new homes in most of former grounds
TypeResidential
Architectural styleVictorian
AddressChurch Road, Ham Common, Ham, Richmond, TW10 5HH
Town or cityHam, London
CountryEngland
Coordinates51.4287°N 0.2960°W / 51.4287; -0.2960
Elevation27 feet (8.2 m)
Completed2020
ClientIndividual buyers
LandlordFlatowner-shared freehold company; none as to many homes (sold as freehold)
Height
ArchitecturalGeorgian, English farmhouse-inspired and original, lightly crenulated Gothic Revival architecture
Roofslate or flat
Technical details
Floor count3
Design and construction
Main contractorBerkeley Homes
DesignationsBuilding of Townscape Merit
Website
http://www.latchmerehouse.co.uk/
HMP Latchmere House
StatusClosed
Security classMale Cat. D
Capacity207
Opened1948
ClosedSeptember 2011
References
[1]

Originally built during the Victorian era as a private dwelling, the grand house was then owned by the Ministry of Defence and had various uses until after World War II, when it was transferred to Her Majesty's Prison Service; it served as a detention centre and prison until it was closed in September 2011. In 2013 the site was sold to Berkeley Homes who have converted the house into seven apartments and built 60 other homes in the grounds.

History

Built in the mid-19th century by Joshue Field, a British civil and mechanical engineer, as a large, ornate country house with generous grounds, during the First World War (1914–1918) the estate was used by the Ministry of Defence as a hospital for treating officers suffering from "shell shock".[2]

During the Second World War it was used as a detention and interrogation centre (known as Camp 020) for enemy agents captured by MI5. Many members of the British Union of Fascists (BUF) were held here during this period. They included the environmental pioneer Jorian Jenks. Over the course of August and September 1940 the local leaders – held without trial – were subjected to exacting interrogation by military intelligence, including solitary confinement, mock executions, food deprivation and psychological torture. This ended when BUF leader Sir Oswald Mosley launched legal proceedings.[3]

Britain used cruel and unusual treatment sometimes to extract information from German prisoners of war. Across the estate 30 rooms were small cells with hidden microphones.[4]

Latchmere House Prison

Latchmere House was transferred to Her Majesty's Prison Service in 1948. It was used as a Young Offenders Institution, remand centre, then deportees detention centre before becoming a Category D men's re-settlement prison in 1992.

As at December 2003 Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Prisons praised this for its rehabilitation centre, employment opportunities for inmates, and the good relationships between staff and prisoners. The inspectorate found the prison could do more to prepare prisoners for release and sometimes slowly found employment.[1] By the next summer the average prisoner spent 57.6 hours per week in Purposeful Activity, which made the prison "best in the country at providing useful work for its inmates."[5] The prison also did well in diversity and in education, with less success in resettlement and drug use. All prisoners could find jobs nearby, with a return curfew of 11pm or earlier due to the type of employment.

In September 2011 the Ministry of Justice closed the prison amid savings.[6]

Latchmere House today

Latchmere House was sold to Berkeley Homes in 2013. The land is prime real estate looking over Ham Common,[7] attractively separated by trees and now smart railings rather than walls from light traffic, for return to housing use.[8]

Richmond London Borough Council applied for the main Victorian wing to be listed (statutorily recognised and protected for architecture or heritage).[9] English Heritage then assessed the estate and concluded that it fell short of the criteria.[10] The house has been designated by that planning authority as a Building of Townscape Merit. Both Richmond and Kingston councils have published a planning brief for the site, and conversion began in 2014. The house and its surrounds are in the Ham Common Conservation Area, and the planning brief seeks the retention of the house and related outbuildings and the enhancement of its setting.[11]

Permission was granted in July 2015 to redevelop the site in to 73 new homes, including 13 affordable homes. Demolition of cellblocks and alike prison apparatus followed.[12][13] Berkeley later saw the housing named 1 to 54 (and 56 to 66 evens) Barrons Chase.

As of August 2020 the sale site states the homes have been reserved or bought.[14]

References
  1. Adlam, James (12 December 2003). "Report reveals the good and the bad at Latchmere prison". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  2. Rankin, Nicholas (2009). Churchill's Wizards: The British Genius for Deception, 1914–1945. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0571221967.
  3. Thurlow, Richard (1998). Fascism in Britain. A History: 1918-1945. I.B Tauris. ISBN 1-86064-337-X.
  4. Cobain, Ian (2012). Cruel Britannia. Portobello Books.
  5. "Prison keeps inmates occupied". Richmond and Twickenham Times. 13 August 2004. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  6. "Two prisons to shut in efficiency bid, MoJ says". BBC News. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  7. Warrell, Helen (27 October 2011). "UK prison numbers to hit new high". Financial Times. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  8. Lindsell, David (10 March 2014). "A hard cell? Up-market homes plan for former Nazi interrogation prison". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Archived from the original on 26 June 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2014.
  9. Fleming, Christine (3 September 2011). "Latchmere House prison 'should be a listed building'". Richmond and Twickenham Times. Retrieved 6 August 2012.
  10. "HM Resettlement Prison, Latchmere House, Church Road, Ham, Richmond". Historic England.
  11. "Latchmere House Community Meeting: Frequently Asked Questions, 17 October 2012" (PDF). Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames and London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  12. Proto, Laura (4 November 2014). "Halloween tour of Latchmere Prison reveals soon-to-be-gone secrets". Surrey Comet. Retrieved 9 November 2014.
  13. "Home – Latchmere House". Berkeley Homes. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  14. "Home – Latchmere House". Berkeley Homes. Archived from the original on 2 August 2020. Retrieved 5 December 2015.

Further reading
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